Remembering Kevin Moore

Social Media

LLVLC Archives

Dangit, My Apple iPhone Was Stolen Today!

Six months after getting my iPhone, it was stolen from me

Can I whine just a bit for a moment? WAH!

I’m just a little bummed out right now because earlier today my beloved iPhone was stolen. Yep, right from under my nose, the dad-blamit thing just disappeared on me. What makes it worse is that it happened at the gym likely while I was using the abdominal equipment to do my 150 crunches (as part of my new commitment to resistance training). Double whammy! UGH!

I know, I know, some of you are laughing hysterically right now because you feel utter glee that I would allow myself to lose something like an iPhone which I paid $600 for back in August 2007 (they’ve since dropped the price to $400). Alright, got that out of your system now? Good. For the rest of you without iPhone envy syndrome, I have to tell you that little gizmo was one of the best business investments I’d ever made. Besides my computer, that phone was my lifeline to so many facets of what I do. And it had EVERYTHING about me on it (but I’m not worried about identity theft since I got LifeLock four months ago to protect me).

But now my iPhone is gone in the blink of an eye. Shoot!

Here’s what happened: Around noon today, I drove down to the gym to get in a quick 30-minute resistance training workout before running some errands to the bank and to pick up some kitty litter and cat food from PetSmart. The first thing I did when I got to Peak Fitness was head straight to the machine to do my abdominal workout since my personal trainer wants me to get in at least 100 a day (I’ve been doing 150).

As always, I kept my iPhone in my left pocket in case I got any calls while I was out. It’s the same place I always keep it when I exercise and I’ve never had an issue. In my right pocket was my Sony Walkman to listen to the radio while I worked out. I went through my entire routine working on my abs and arms today, ran my errands, got home, and only took three steps inside before I felt down my left pocket for my iPhone and it wasn’t there.

My heart immediately sunk (don’t you just HATE that feeling?!).

Before I even spoke to my wife Christine, I raced out the door to my car and hurriedly drove back to the gym that was about a mile away from my house. When I got there, I asked the attendant at the front desk if anyone had turned in a cell phone. He starts digging for a box and said, “You can check in this box we have.” I explained I was just there less than an hour before and that it would have been turned in recently. He said nothing was brought to him.

My heart sunk some more.

So I retraced all my steps in the gym and headed straight for the abdominal machine first. Not there. I looked around all the equipment and weights where I had been to see if it has slipped out around them. Same result…not there. I was getting sick to my stomach thinking that this little expensive apparatus that is one of the lifebloods of what I do had been stolen by a member or staff at my gym. ARGH ARGH ARGH!

Okay, so I seethed all the way back home and had to break the news to Christine who was the level-headed one for once when she suggested we call the police and file a stolen item report, call our insurance company to file a claim against our home owner’s insurance, and call AT&T to suspend the usage of the iPhone until we can sort this thing out. Before I did all of that, though, I decided to call my cell phone number to see if someone had it and wanted to return it to the proper owner. But after three attempts and it went to voicemail each time, we started making the calls.

What was supposed to be an afternoon filled with getting some regular work in–making calls, doing some research, and blogging before the BCS Championship game tonight–turned into nearly five hours of being put on hold, transferred, sharing information, and the whole rigmarole you go through when something like this happens. We all have been through something like this at one time or another, so today was my lucky day. Ain’t it great? NOT!

We suspended the telephone number with AT&T so the creep that has my iPhone couldn’t make calls (as if he would even try that anyway since that would open himself up to being caught). I wasn’t really worried about him/her running up the bill because I had a TON of minutes on there and AT&T has the rollover minutes as well. The person would have to talk nonstop for days before the bill would have been run up.

The next call was to Allstate to report this with my homeowner’s policy. The deductible is $250 and I paid $600 six months ago for my iPhone, so we should get a little assistance with paying for a replacement phone. The actual report will be taken by a third-party processor on Tuesday so wish us luck!

Finally, we called the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Department here in Spartanburg, South Carolina to report my iPhone being stolen. The very nice woman who took the report responded, “Oh my!” when I told her my iPhone was the item taken. She indicated the phone is a hot commodity for thieves. Not what I wanted to hear!

More rumbling in my stomach! Grrrrr!!!

But then some relatively good news started happening. I found a couple of old Apple credits that I had not used and decided to call them up to purchase a new iPhone to replace the stolen one. I was concerned about whether I had enough money in the bank to cover the replacement since our checking account balance was about $400. We don’t use credit cards, so our check card was the only other payment option. After the two credits were applied, the total cost on our check card was just over $300. WHEW! That’s $300 I didn’t want to spend, but I need my iPhone again! They said it should be here by the end of the week.

Then I received a check in the mail today that fully replenished our checking account (Thank you Lord!) and helped us pay for the new phone. I drove down to the AT&T store and transferred my cell phone number that was on my iPhone to my old cell phone until the new iPhone arrives. At least I’ll still get my calls from clients and be able to call long distance in the interim.

As for the punk who stole my iPhone, it’s pretty much useless to him now. I’ve reported the serial number–75727M6HWH8–as STOLEN with AT&T, my insurance, and with the cops, so he’s screwed if he tries to sell it or reactivate it for his own personal use. For the life of me, I cannot even begin to imagine what would compel somebody to think that taking something that doesn’t belong to them is even remotely the right thing to do. The guilt of doing something like that would eat me alive.

I am thankful that the phone was simply taken and not robbed from me. I guess it would have been worse had the thief hit me upside the head with a blunt object or pointed a gun at me in order to steal my iPhone. Not only would I have been out the phone, but then I would have needed to have my head examined (some would say I need to anyway!) or I would have been shot. EEEEK!

Christine said this whole incident had her so stressed today she wanted to eat carbs (she recently started back eating strict low-carb again to lose some weight she gained during our recent IVF cycle). But she resisted the urge and stuck to plan. I’m proud of her because stressful times are no reason to give in to carbs! She made me so proud.

Alright, enough of my whining already. Dangit, my Apple iPhone was st olen today, but at least there was a somewhat happy ending. All will be back to normal again by the end of the week–except for that $300 or so hit to my wallet! I’ll have to chalk it up to another one of those tried and true lessons in the school of hard knocks that we all go through.

Sorry for your loss Jimmy. Caution about leaving about any valuables in your car when your go to the gym. My neighbor had her car broken into while she was at 24 Hour Fitness as the thiefs know that people tend to leave valuables in the car when they go to the gym.

Ellen

I love my iPhone too and could never live w/o it. Oh, and you can get radio (at least satellite, haven’t tried the terrestial yet) on it via Orb.com. Check it out. (Ya gotta jailbreak it first though!)

Jimmy Moore

Ironically, JD, that’s one of the reasons I brought my iPhone in the gym with me so it wouldn’t be stolen. How’s that workin’ for ya?!

THANKS for the tip, Ellen. Sometimes I’ll listen to music using the iPod on the iPhone, but today I wanted to hear the radio. I’ll check out Orb.com sometime.

Got a new iPhone in the mail on the way, so we’ll be back to normal again soon enough.

Pot Kettle Black

Sorry for your loss. But the evangelism that iPhone addicts talk about the damn thing with make one believe that the world would stop rotating if the iHype had never been invented. You managed to live for however many years, minus 6 months, without an iPhone. You managed to lose nigh on 200 lbs without an iPhone. You met your wife without one. Convinced her to marry you. I am as tech addicted as the next person, but if it’s gonna clean your bank account out, maybe you can step back to a dumb phone and a moleskin book, save 200 bucks on the purchase, and who knows what on the monthly service, and perhaps learn a 2000’s version of what Thoreau learned on Walden pond.

Or you could empty out 75% of your checking account and blow the rest on monthy service for the thing, and go with a low calorie approach on the food.

Expensive lesson to learn.

PS – $400 for 8GB is nuts.

Sparky’s Girl

Sorry to hear about your loss Jimmy! I understand how violated you can feel. Someone broke into my husbands truck just after we moved here. Thankfully they didn’t steal anything, (determined it was young kids who didn’t find anything they wanted) but it’s still upsetting!

Jimmy Moore

THANKS Pot. But it’s more than just hype and 8GB…the iPhone gives me more productivity in what I do. I’m constantly on the go and being about to answer e-mails or hop on my blog or forum sites anywhere I am is as much a signature of what I do as anything.

Sure, I lived without it for many years, but I wouldn’t want to for the rest of my life. Like I said, I got a check in the mail today that replenished my funds, so it was good timing to have it stolen (if there ever is such a thing).

Casey

Conolences, Jimmy. One of my closest friends owns a very upscale restaurant. She set her iPhone down on the hostess stand while she seated some customers and when she got back to the stand the iPhone was gone.

merrymayhem

That really sucks Was the insurance that you pay a monthly fee for offered? My husband had it on a $400 phone that broke, we just had to pay a $50 deductible and got a replacement… I would assume they’d cover a stolen phone if you got the police report? I don’t think I’d want to file it under homeowners if I didn’t have to since they could decide not to cover you anymore! I now have my husband’s $400 phone since he got a Blackberry for work, and I barely figured out how to check the voicemail a week or so ago… it can do email and web browsing and GPS and all sorts of stuff, so it’s really a waste for me.. just give me something with numbers to push – contact lists are a bonus!

I know you said you guys don’t use credit cards but you can get one that has purchase protection, it’s insurance in case your item bought on that credit card got lost, stolen or damaged… but I think most only cover for the first 90 or so days after purchase.

RJ

Wow, from your pocket?? Yikes that is scary. It must have fallen out while you were doing your workout. Glad you got the whole thing solved tho. I am curious what the person must feel I am one of those who sniggered, only because of your use of “dang it” and “dad blamit”. But it wasnt funny at all. I would be out of my mind. I have a blackberry and it is very valuable to me because as a deaf person this is a great communication tool! Probably not as fancy as that iPhone tho. Glad things worked out for you.

Jimmy Moore

THANKS for your input, merrymayhem! RJ, happy to keep you entertained with my Southern dialect. You don’t want to know what I was THINKING! :O

swatkins

Hi Jimmy,

Oh, do I feel your pain… well almost. I’ve never had an item as special as the iphone, unless you count that 5300 from Kodak. Back to losses, I too lost a phone last year, but my thief ended up being a client’s dog, that decided to make a chew toy out of my phone. I’m sure you saw the commercial where the dog ate the phone and the gloved patron was going into to retrieve the phone, because after all it was on “Roam”. My phone was all but lost for about 36 hours, then I received a phone call from my client that the chew toy had showed up on the porch. By that time I had replaced the important tool in my life, but it was good to have closure, as to what had occurred. My wish is that the culprit is caught, and you are able to gain peace that the bad guys do get caught. After all Crime doesn’t Pay, does it?

Blessings to you and Christine

Karen

Hi Jimmy,Sorry about your phone. Next time you’re in the gym on the same day, at the same time as when you lost your phone, call it and see if it rings in someone else’s pocket. Karen B.

Jimmy Moore

I would have done that Karen, but I was at home when I realized it was missing. GREAT IDEA, though.

Jeri

You might want to invest in one of those arm holders for the phone, so you always know it’s secure where it sits. Also, a holder with a clip would keep it in place. These slippery phones are too valuable to keep in pocket with a lot of movement…I love my Iphone and keep it clipped to me or my purse at all times. Good luck with the new one.